Differences in psychological distress between effective and ineffective problem solvers.

213 undergraduates completed the Problem Solving Inventory. 43 Ss who scored at least 1 standard deviation (SD) above the mean were classified as ineffective problem solvers; 38 Ss scoring at least 1 SD below the mean were designated as effective problem solvers. These 81 Ss then completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, and the Problem Check List. MANOVA and univariate tests indicated that self-appraised effective problem solvers, as compared to self-perceived ineffective problem solvers, reported less depression, less trait and state anxiety, a more internal control orientation, less frequent problems, and less distress associated with these problems. Findings suggest that self-appraised problem-solving effectiveness is strongly associated with emotional distress. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression, general distress, and causal attributions among university students.

Attempted to replicate I. H. Gotlib's (see record 1984-15153-001) finding of a high intercorrelation among various measures of distress (depression, state anxiety, trait anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, and assertiveness) within an undergraduate sample. Results obtained from 134 undergraduates found the Beck Depression Inventory to be highly correlated with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory—Form Y, the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and the Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist, although the assertiveness measure demonstrated some discriminant validity according to a principal-components analysis. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that all 5 measures of distress were significantly related to causal attributions concerning both positive and negative events on the Attributional Style Questionnaire, partially replicating Gotlib's results. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream content and self-reported well-being among recurrent dreamers, past-recurrent dreamers, and nonrecurrent dreamers.

A multivariate comparison was made among 67 recurrent, past-recurrent, and nonrecurrent dreamers (aged 18–88 yrs). Ss collected a 14-day sample of their remembered dreams and on 2 occasions completed measures including the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Multivariate and discriminant analyses show that recurrent dreamers scored low on psychological well-being (PWB) and reported more anxious, aggressive, and dysphoric dream content. Past-recurrent dreamers scored high on PWB and reported more positive dream content. A single psychometric dimension of PWB discriminated among the 3 groups over the entire set of PWB and dream content variables. Results support analytical psychology theory's assertion of the relation between dreaming and psychological adaptation. The function of dreams is discussed in relation to both their recurrence and archetypicality. (92 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of concreteness-abstractness and anxiety on intellectual and motor performance.

Administered O. J. Harvey's "This I Believe" Test to undergraduates. 55 Ss were selected with concrete belief systems and 29 with abstract systems. Ss then played the role of arguing against their own stand on an ego-involving issue which was scored for 5 attributes: number to topics discussed, number of approaches utilized in the arguments, openness to negative evaluation, ethnocentrism, and absolutism. Ss also completed the WAIS Digit-Symbol Substitution test, a vocabulary test, an arithmetic test, the A-State scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. On the basis of the anxiety measure, Ss were divided into "high" and "low" anxiety groups, and a 2-way analysis of variance (Concreteness-Abstractness * Anxiety) was run for each of the 8 dependent variables. Anxiety exercised a significant main effect on none of the 8 dependent variables, while concreteness-abstractness significantly affected 5. The interaction of these 2 variables, while in the anticipated direction in all instances, significantly affected performance only on the vocabulary measure. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety: States, traits—situations?

Investigated the utility of situational assessments of trait anxiety in predicting state anxiety reactions. 96 male undergraduates preselected as either high or low on 3 measures of trait anxiety—Stimulus–Response Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness (S–R GTA) Physical Danger; S–R GTA Evaluation; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI A-Trait) Anxiety Trait scale—were exposed to 2 experimentally induced stresses (a physical danger stress and an evaluation stress). Results indicate that the STAI A-Trait and the S–R GTA Evaluation measures correlated significantly higher with each other than either did with the S–R GTA Physical Danger measure and that both stresses produced a significant increase in state anxiety. In addition, the triple interaction of type of stress, trait level, and trait measure was, as predicted, significant. This finding indicates that high-trait-anxious Ss responded with greater state reactions when the trait measure corresponded with type of stress. Results are discussed as support for the interaction model of anxiety and for the need to measure situational components of trait anxiety. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group vicarious desensitization of test anxiety.

Examined whether vicarious desensitization, using videotapes and a small group format, could be used as a treatment for test anxiety. 43 test anxious college students were administered the Test Anxiety Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Ss received either vicarious desensitization, study skills training, or both treatments; there was also a no-treatment control condition. Self-report measures indicated that vicarious desensitization resulted in lower test and trait anxiety than study-skills training alone or no treatment. Academic performance measures, obtained posttreatment and at a 3-mo follow-up, indicated no differential effectiveness. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliabilities and concurrent validities of popular self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and social desirability.

135 male and 256 female undergraduates completed the Self-Rating Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Depression Adjective Check Lists, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, S-R Inventory of Anxiousness, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, and Edwards Social Desirability Scale. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated strong relationships between measures of depression and between measures of anxiety. However, pairs of anxiety and depression measures correlated almost as strongly. All depression and anxiety measures were significantly associated with the Edwards Social Desirability Scale. Findings question the use of a self-report measure of depression to select "depressed" Ss among college students. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instructions on measures of state and trait anxiety in flight students.

Administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory twice to 134 flight students during their routine entrance aviation physical examination. Ss were lower in trait anxiety and higher in state anxiety than a group of 253 previously tested male college students. However, with an induced anxiety act, both state and trait anxiety scores were significantly lower than the scores obtained during the initial administration of the test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life events and psychological distress: A prospective study of young adolescents.

Seventh and 8th graders were administered measures of negative and positive life experiences and psychological distress on 2 occasions approximately 5 mo apart to examine the etiologic role of negative life events in the maladjustment of early adolescents. 233 7th–8th graders were administered the Junior High Life Experiences Survey, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and a child development inventory at Time 1. 79 of the 233 Ss completed the 3 measures at Time 2. Cross-sectional regression analyses revealed a significant positive relationship between negative events and distress but generally failed to support the stress-buffering effects of positive events. However, in the prospective analyses, negative events were not predictive of psychological distress and were, in fact, themselves partly determined by previous distress. Results are compared with previous studies of adult life events and suggest the importance of ongoing stressful processes as engendering both maladjustment and stressful events in the lives of early adolescents. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-reports of depression and state-trait anxiety: Evidence for differential assessment.

Several researchers have found anxiety and depression to be indistinguishable in nonclinical samples and have suggested that both constructs may be components of a general psychological distress process. Another possibility is that overlap is due to the psychometric limitations of scales used. A series of exploratory factor analyses were conducted in a nonclinical sample (N?=?605) using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS; N. S. Endler et al, 1991). Both state and trait anxiety and depression could be differentiated with the BDI and the EMAS but not with the STAI. Some theoretical models of negative affectivity or general psychopathology may be premature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relaxation and cognitive treatments of anger.

60 undergraduates, selected on the basis of scores on the Trait form of the State-Trait Anger Scale, participated in cognitive and relaxation coping skill interventions for anger reduction or in a no-treatment control. Ss also completed measures such as the State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory. By 4-wk follow-up, cognitive and relaxation groups reported significantly less general anger, physical symptoms of anger, daily ratings of anger, and less state anger and tendency to cope with verbal antagonism in response to imaginal provocations than did controls and did not differ from one another. Constructive coping in the imaginal provocations and trait anxiety showed the cognitive condition improved relative to the control, whereas the relaxation group did not differ significantly from other groups. No between-groups differences were found for personal anger situations, depression, or heart rate and coping via physical antagonism in response to provocations. One-year follow-up revealed maintenance of patterns for general anger and anxiety reduction. Results are discussed in terms of the value of applied relaxation for anger reduction. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): Comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

The State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA; M. J. Ree, C. MacLeod, D. French, & V. Locke, 2000) was designed to assess cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety as they pertain to one's mood in the moment (state) and in general (trait). This study extended the previous psychometric findings to a clinical sample and validated the STICSA against a well-published measure of anxiety, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, 1983). Patients (N=567) at an anxiety disorders clinic were administered a battery of questionnaires. The results of confirmatory factor analyses (Bentler-Bonnett nonnormed fit index, comparative fit index, and Bollen fit index>.90; root-mean-square error of approximation     

Development of anticipatory nausea: A prospective analysis.

Employed a prospective design to identify patient- and treatment-related variables characteristic of patients who develop anticipatory nausea after receiving initial cancer chemotherapy treatment. 71 chemotherapy outpatients (mean age 59.8 yrs) were interviewed before and after each chemotherapy infusion during their first 6 mo of treatment. Ss also completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the 26 Ss who developed anticipatory nausea were characterized by more severe posttreatment nausea, more time-consuming treatment infusions, and greater state anxiety relative to the 45 Ss without anticipatory nausea. Results support a respondent learning conceptualization of the development of anticipatory nausea. Clinical implications of these findings for the prevention of anticipatory nausea are suggested. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of marathon group therapy on trait and state anxiety.

Administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 84 institutionalized female narcotic drug addicts (mean age 25.6 yrs). Ss then participated in marathon-directive, marathon-nondirective, or no-therapy (control) groups. Combining all groups of Ss, State Anxiety (A-State) declined significantly from pretherapy to posttherapy, with the 2 therapy groups showing a far greater decline than the control group. Trait Anxiety (A-Trait) was unchanged from pre- to posttherapy when the scores for all groups were combined. Ss receiving nondirective therapy declined in A-Trait, directive therapy Ss increased, and control Ss showed virtually no change in A-Trait. Results support C. D. Spielberger's notion that trait anxiety reflects a dispositional tendency to respond with anxiety in ego-threat situations and suggest that personality trait measures may be more relevant outcome indicators than measures of transitory mood states in marathon therapy research. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Trait version: structure and content re-examined

Although the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a popular measure of anxiety, some previous research suggests that the trait scale may assess depression, as well as anxiety. The factor structure of the trait items was initially examined using factor analytic procedures. Confirmatory factor analytic methods suggested that a hierarchical solution best fit the data, with one overall factor and two lower order factors. The lower order subscales created from this factor solution were examined in a sample of individuals diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Overall, the results offered good support for the notion that the trait scale of the STAI assesses depression, as well as anxiety. One set of items appeared to assess anxiety and worry, whereas the other assessed sadness and self-deprecation. The two subscales correlated differentially with other measures of anxiety and depression in a manner that was consistent with their content. Finally, diagnostic groups and controls could be meaningfully distinguished on these subscales. Implications for the use of this measure are discussed.     

Postpartum anxiety and depression: onset and comorbidity in a community sample

A community-based sample of 107 women completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 14 weeks postpartum and at 30 weeks postpartum. The point prevalence of anxiety was 8.7% at 14 weeks and 16.8% at 30 weeks postpartum. The point prevalence of depression was 23.3% at 14 weeks and 18.7% at 30 weeks postpartum. The incidence of anxiety during this time period was 10.28%, and the incidence of depression was 7.48%, indicating high incidences of both postpartum anxiety and depression later in the postpartum period. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was found to have a strong correlation with the State Anxiety Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (r = .73 at 14 weeks, r = .82 at 30 weeks), suggesting that the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale may be a good screening instrument for anxiety as well as depression.     

Biofeedback as a placebo: Anxiety reduction facilitated by training in either suppression or enhancement of alpha brainwaves.

Assessed the differential effects (on experiential reports of anxiety) of actual performance and perceived success at an EEG biofeedback task. 10 college students who were high in trait anxiety (MMPI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) underwent training in either the suppression of enhancement of EEG alpha activity with the expectation that success at their biofeedback task would result in reductions of chronic anxiety levels. Both groups experienced significant reductions in both trait and state anxiety. Anxiety reductions were highly correlated with the trainees' ratings of perceived success at the feedback task but were unrelated to either the direction or magnitude of the changes in their alpha activity. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resting metabolic rate is influenced by anxiety in college men

The effects of psychological parameters on resting metabolic rate (RMR) have been inadequately researched. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between anxiety and RMR. Seventy-nine male college students completed the trait portion (form Y-2) of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (C. D. Spielberger, R. L. Gorsuch, R. Lushene, P. R. Vagg, and G. A. Jacobs. Self-evaluation questionnaire (form Y). In: Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA, Consulting Psychologists Press, 1983) as a screening. Volunteers whose trait anxiety scores were > or = 1 SD above (52.7 +/- 2.7, n = 9) or below (26.5 +/- 3.0, n = 11) the male college student normal values (38 +/- 9) participated in the study. Fat-free weight was assessed using a seven-site skinfold equation (A. S. Jackson and M. L. Pollock. Phys. Sports Med. 13: 76-90, 1985). Resting metabolism was measured (Sensormedics metabolic cart model 2900) at two separate trials (1-2 wk apart) in the early morning after a 12-h fast and 36 h postexercise. An analysis of covariance with fat-free weight as the covariate revealed a significantly greater (P < 0.005) RMR in the high trait anxious group than in the low trait anxious group. State anxiety (form Y-1) assessments made before and after each RMR measurement revealed a significant main effect of group such that state anxiety was higher in the high trait anxious than in the low trait anxious group for both trials before and after RMR measurement. Moreover, a significant (P < 0.003) main effect for the time factor was found showing that state anxiety was reduced after the RMR procedure. The results of this study show that a statistically significant portion of the variance in RMR can be accounted for by individual differences in anxiety.